21 U.S. Code § 822 - Persons required to register

(1)Every person who manufactures or distributes any controlled substance or list I chemical, or who proposes to engage in the manufacture or distribution of any controlled substance or list I chemical, shall obtain annually a registration issued by the Attorney General in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by him.

(2)Every person who dispenses, or who proposes to dispense, any controlled substance, shall obtain from the Attorney General a registration issued in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by him. The Attorney General shall, by regulation, determine the period of such registrations. In no event, however, shall such registrations be issued for less than one year nor for more than three years.

(b) Authorized activities

Persons registered by the Attorney General under this subchapter to manufacture, distribute, or dispense controlled substances or list I chemicals are authorized to possess, manufacture, distribute, or dispense such substances or chemicals (including any such activity in the conduct of research) to the extent authorized by their registration and in conformity with the other provisions of this subchapter.

(c) Exceptions

The following persons shall not be required to register and may lawfully possess any controlled substance or list I chemical under this subchapter:

(1)An agent or employee of any registered manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser of any controlled substance or list I chemical if such agent or employee is acting in the usual course of his business or employment.

(2)A common or contract carrier or warehouseman, or an employee thereof, whose possession of the controlled substance or list I chemical is in the usual course of his business or employment.

(3)An ultimate user who possesses such substance for a purpose specified in section
802(25)[1] of this title.

(d) Waiver

The Attorney General may, by regulation, waive the requirement for registration of certain manufacturers, distributors, or dispensers if he finds it consistent with the public health and safety.

(e) Separate registration

A separate registration shall be required at each principal place of business or professional practice where the applicant manufactures, distributes, or dispenses controlled substances or list I chemicals.

(f) Inspection

The Attorney General is authorized to inspect the establishment of a registrant or applicant for registration in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by him.

(g) Delivery of controlled substances by ultimate users for disposal

(1)An ultimate user who has lawfully obtained a controlled substance in accordance with this subchapter may, without being registered, deliver the controlled substance to another person for the purpose of disposal of the controlled substance if—

(A)the person receiving the controlled substance is authorized under this subchapter to engage in such activity; and

(B)the disposal takes place in accordance with regulations issued by the Attorney General to prevent diversion of controlled substances.

(2)In developing regulations under this subsection, the Attorney General shall take into consideration the public health and safety, as well as the ease and cost of program implementation and participation by various communities. Such regulations may not require any entity to establish or operate a delivery or disposal program.

(3)The Attorney General may, by regulation, authorize long-term care facilities, as defined by the Attorney General by regulation, to dispose of controlled substances on behalf of ultimate users who reside, or have resided, at such long-term care facilities in a manner that the Attorney General determines will provide effective controls against diversion and be consistent with the public health and safety.

(4)If a person dies while lawfully in possession of a controlled substance for personal use, any person lawfully entitled to dispose of the decedent’s property may deliver the controlled substance to another person for the purpose of disposal under the same conditions as provided in paragraph (1) for an ultimate user.

This subchapter, referred to in subsecs. (b), (c), and (g)(1), was in the original “this title”, meaning title II of Pub. L. 91–513, Oct. 27, 1970, 84 Stat. 1242, and is popularly known as the “Controlled Substances Act”. For complete classification of title II to the Code, see second paragraph of Short Title note set out under section
801 of this title and Tables.

“(1) The nonmedical use of prescription drugs is a growing problem in the United States, particularly among teenagers.

“(2) According to the Department of Justice’s 2009 National Prescription Drug Threat Assessment—

“(A) the number of deaths and treatment admissions for controlled prescription drugs (CPDs) has increased significantly in recent years;

“(B) unintentional overdose deaths involving prescription opioids, for example, increased 114 percent from 2001 to 2005, and the number of treatment admissions for prescription opioids increased 74 percent from 2002 to 2006; and

“(C) violent crime and property crime associated with abuse and diversion of CPDs has increased in all regions of the United States over the past 5 years.

“(3) According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s 2008 Report ‘Prescription for Danger’, prescription drug abuse is especially on the rise for teens—

“(A) one-third of all new abusers of prescription drugs in 2006 were 12- to 17-year-olds;

“(B) teens abuse prescription drugs more than any illicit drug except marijuana—more than cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine combined; and

“(C) responsible adults are in a unique position to reduce teen access to prescription drugs because the drugs often are found in the home.

“(4)(A) Many State and local law enforcement agencies have established drug disposal programs (often called ‘take-back’ programs) to facilitate the collection and destruction of unused, unwanted, or expired medications. These programs help get outdated or unused medications off household shelves and out of the reach of children and teenagers.

“(B) However, take-back programs often cannot dispose of the most dangerous pharmaceutical drugs—controlled substance medications—because Federal law does not permit take-back programs to accept controlled substances unless they get specific permission from the Drug Enforcement Administration and arrange for full-time law enforcement officers to receive the controlled substances directly from the member of the public who seeks to dispose of them.

“(C) Individuals seeking to reduce the amount of unwanted controlled substances in their household consequently have few disposal options beyond discarding or flushing the substances, which may not be appropriate means of disposing of the substances. Drug take-back programs are also a convenient and effective means for individuals in various communities to reduce the introduction of some potentially harmful substances into the environment, particularly into water.

“(D) Long-term care facilities face a distinct set of obstacles to the safe disposal of controlled substances due to the increased volume of controlled substances they handle.

“(5) This Act [see Short Title of 2010 Amendment note set out under section
801 of this title] gives the Attorney General authority to promulgate new regulations, within the framework of the Controlled Substances Act [21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.], that will allow patients to deliver unused pharmaceutical controlled substances to appropriate entities for disposal in a safe and effective manner consistent with effective controls against diversion.

“(6) The goal of this Act is to encourage the Attorney General to set controlled substance diversion prevention parameters that will allow public and private entities to develop a variety of methods of collection and disposal of controlled substances, including some pharmaceuticals, in a secure, convenient, and responsible manner. This will also serve to reduce instances of diversion and introduction of some potentially harmful substances into the environment.”

“(A) is engaged in manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing any controlled substance on the day before the effective date of section
302 [this section], and

“(B) is registered on such day under section 510 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act [section
360 of this title] or under section 4722 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [formerly I.R.C. 1954, section
4722 of Title
26],

shall, with respect to each establishment for which such registration is in effect under any such section, be deemed to have a provisional registration under section
303 [section
823 of this title] for the manufacture, distribution, or dispensing (as the case may be) of controlled substances.

“(2) During the period his provisional registration is in effect under this section, the registration number assigned such person under such section
510 [section
360 of this title] or under such section
4722 [section
4722 of Title
26] (as the case may be) shall be his registration number for purposes of section
303 of this title [section
823 of this title].

“(b) The provisions of section
304 [section
824 of this title], relating to suspension and revocation of registration, shall apply to a provisional registration under this section.

“(c) Unless sooner suspended or revoked under subsection (b), a provisional registration of a person under subsection (a)(1) of this section shall be in effect until—

“(1) the date on which such person has registered with the Attorney General under section
303 [section
823 of this title] or has had his registration denied under such section, or

“(2) such date as may be prescribed by the Attorney General for registration of manufacturers, distributors, or dispensers, as the case may be,